CMP engine swaps

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

My point in this post is NO ONE SHOULD FEEL DIMINISHED if they need to put a none original engine in to keep the truck on the road.

Personally I prefer to see a few non-original motors in CMPs, provided the vehicle presents outwardly as original. It would be a very boring world if we all did the same thing, and these days there are enough restored CMPs to accommodate a bit of variation/experimentation, particularly in the interests of improved performance.

The other point about engine swaps is that there's a whole spectrum, ranging from highly conservative, eg. later model Chev 6 cyl, to highly radical, eg. Rolls Royce jet engine! (yes, it's been done). Hence we can't generalize about the practice - each conversion must be judged on its merits. Personally I hardly consider a Blue Flame motor to be "non-original", because without driving it I can't perceive any difference. And I even consider the jet-powered CMP to be a worthwhile exercise, purely as a spectacle. I'm only sorry I missed it!

As a purist myself I'll be sticking with the flathead, but I'm glad there are others who push the boundaries in search of performance, because there's always something to be learned from the exercise. For a start, I'm curious to know how fast a CMP can be driven safely!